Auxiliary Territorial Service personnel serving with an anti-aircraft battery, 1942

Official photograph, World War Two, 1942.

Members of the Auxiliary Territorial Service using a range finder and predictor, 1942.

Anti-aircraft batteries had to compute the position of moving aircraft and aim and time their shells to hit the target. Variables like aircraft and wind speed had to be considered. To help with this task batteries were equipped with range finders, incorporating two telescopes, to record and plot an aircraft's position and course. A predictor device would then calculate an aiming point for the gunners.

By 1943 there were around 56,000 members of the ATS serving in mixed anti-aircraft batteries. Despite being allowed to serve in all other roles within the team they were prohibited from actually firing the guns themselves.

From a collection of 300 photographs relating to the role played by Auxiliary Territorial Service personnel in anti-aircraft operations.